WELLNESS HOW TO DEAL WITH

Driving in the Capital can trigger stress, which in turn can lead to health hazards. Here’s what leads to trafficinduced stress and how to keep it in check

Delhi’s traffic jams are inevitable — they spare no one, unless you have a red or blue beacon on your car’s roof and traffic cops clearing the way for you. For many of us in the Capital, reaching work or college on time during the peak traffic hours is a daily struggle. So when you have a meeting to attend at 9.30 in the morning, and you are stuck in a seemingly never-ending traffic jam, the situation can get on your nerves. By 9.25 am, you might end up yelling a few of Dilliwallahs’ favourite cuss-words at others, and honk constantly as if it were your birth right. In the end, you will reach your meeting late, distressed and frustrated. If the situation sounds familiar, then be warned: this stress can have an adverse effect on your health.

A recent study by LouisPhilippe Beland and Daniel Brent of Louisiana State University highlights how traffic stress can lead to cases of road rage. Another study conducted by IBM a few years ago suggested that Delhiites are stressed the most during peak traffic hours. We got in touch with experts Dr Pulkit Sharma and Dr Anil Sethi to understand why one gets stressed during traffic jams and how one can deal with it. Here’s what we found:

DELAYS

Peak traffic hours consists of people struggling to get to work on time. The fear of reaching late to work leads to nervousness and frustration with oneself and others, which often leads to road rage. And there is nothing the driver can do about traffic jams in the city as they are unpredictable. So despite, your best efforts (checking GPS before leaving home, planning in advance, etc.) you might find yourself amidst one.

IMPATIENCE

Bad driving, repeatedly switching lanes and drivers constantly honking on the road also cause one to get impatient and angry. Many drivers are hot-headed and end up confronting other drivers for trivial reasons. People who don’t adhere to traffic rules also cause road rage.

BOREDOM

During a long ride, there’s hardly anything that the drivers can do, other than keep an eye on the road. Long traffic jams can get boring and can make the drivers restless. And sometimes drivers start talking on phone to kill time. The driver also begin to feel restless when idle time is forced upon them. Due to staying in one posture for a long period of time, they get physically and mentally fatigued. The frustration due to fatigue and slow-moving or stationary traffic can easily result in road rage.

EGO ISSUES

Many drivers give themselves more importance and completely disregard road safety rules, putting others’ lives at risk. And more often than not, two parties involved in a heated situation fail to admit their mistakes. Dr Anil Sethi says, “Drivers often put self-importance over human life. When they are questioned about their driving they get aggressive.”